“Of course we should,” retorted Drummer. “When we get home we’ll want to tell people about it and there won’t be any fun in ending up by saying that we don’t know what it was all about. More than likely folks will think we dreamed it.”
“We all had the same dream, then,” returned Bob. “But it would be a lot more satisfactory to know the rest of it.”
“When we go for fresh supplies of food we’ll try and find out if anything is known of the whereabouts of Jerry Jackson,” promised Ted.
“If you don’t find anything out can we go scouting around the country and try to find him?” a boy asked, eagerly.
Ted smiled. “No, I guess we won’t go as far as that. If he ever comes near the camp again we will make every effort to capture him, but I think that if we go roaming around the mountains just with the purpose of finding him, we will only be wasting our time and perhaps stirring up trouble. From the looks of his hut over there in the hollow I’d say that he had decided to leave this part of the country for good.”
That night there was a fine bright campfire meeting and the time between supper and bed time was enjoyed without fear of unexpected happenings. They talked and sang and told ghost stories, none of which satisfied them as had the ending of the one which they had witnessed from the maple grove.
“No ghost story will ever mean anything to me again unless one ghost chases the other across the camp and pulls his nightie off!” laughed Buck.
At the recollection there was a hearty laugh and Ted saw that the unexpected ending of the series of mysterious events which had taken place around the camp had cheered and brightened them. He noted that there was a great deal of difference in the boys. At the start of their trip some of them had been frightened, uneasy, panicky, but now they had changed. All of them had broadened and looked brighter and manlier than when they had started out. Little Tom Clayton had developed into a sturdy, self-reliant boy and his too-doting mother was about to receive a surprise when her formerly pale, angelic-looking boy returned from the camp. Ted knew that Mr. Clayton would be more than pleased.
“It has certainly done them a world of good,” he thought, as they turned in that night. “The whole trip has been a success, and I hope the trustees of the club will be satisfied. Too bad we can’t make a full report on the meddling ghosts, but we’ll have to let that go, I suppose.”
On the following day he and Buck took a trip to the farmer’s house and there they related to the farmer and his wife the recent adventures which they had had. The good couple were astonished.